2009 Tutu Fellow James Mwangi - a featured speaker at the 2023 Africa Climate Summit - is changing the narrative on projects in Africa that can reduce the impact of global warming and climate change. Aside from the merit in these projects, which James addresses, narrative change is an imperative to closing the gap between perceived and actual risks for projects on the African continent.
The high-profile summit in early September 2023 to kick-start the transition to clean energy was attended by leaders from Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, the U.S. and the European Union. James was instrumental in helping to organize the event.
James says that Africa is uniquely well endowed and that investing in Africa for climate positive growth is one of the best chances the world has of getting anywhere close to the Paris goals. With its abundant sunlight, natural resources and undeveloped land, Africa has 60 percent of the world’s solar energy potential and almost a third of the minerals that will be needed to electrify transportation and the power grid. But much of that potential is untapped. Africa produces just a sliver of its electricity with renewable technologies such as wind and solar. About 43 percent of Africa's population have little or no access to electricity - a big driver in emissions - so investment in renewables in Africa should be among the reasons that the world’s industrialized countries should invest in these types of projects.
To limit additional global warming, powering Africa with renewables rather than fossil fuels is an easy way to avoid new emissions. With clean power infrastructure, it becomes cleaner to to operate energy-intensive industries like manufacturing on the continent. And with much of Africa’s wilderness still intact, the continent is also primed to be a leader in carbon removal.
James says that none of these opportunities are predicated on charity. Investing in green tech in Africa is the cheapest way to decarbonize heavy industry by doing more of it where the labour and raw materials are.
To accomplish this, the global financial system will need to revisit their assumptions on funding clean energy projects in Africa.
Kenya's president William Ruto made the case: “We must go green fast, before industrializing, and not vice versa.”
You can read a NY Times article on this, or hear directly from James below in his TED Talk on this topic.
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